Kansas Republicans outpace Democrats in picking up new voters since August

Democrats and Republicans in Kansas both gained registered voters in the state’s latest count — but Republicans picked up more as the Nov. 4 election looms.

Meantime, the number of independent voters has dropped.

Tuesday was the registration deadline for the November election. Preliminary figures from the the secretary of state’s office show Kansas gained about 8,370 voters since the August primary, for a total of 1,743,790.

Registered Republicans picked up 12,265 voters. They now total 777,658 and account for 44.6 percent of registered voters.

Democrats picked up 4,813 voters, for a total of 427,011. They are 24.5 percent of registered voters.

Libertarians gained 262 voters, to bring their total to 12,917.

The number of unaffiliated voters decreased by 8,970, or 1.7 percent. The 526,204 unaffiliated voters represent 30.2 percent of those registered.

Republicans reported that since President Barack Obama was elected, the GOP registration advantage over Democrats in Kansas has grown by 64,360 voters.

Over the last 20 years, the Republican share of registered voters has remained a constant 45 percent, Republicans said in a statement. During the same time period, the Democratic share of registered voters declined from 31 percent to 24 percent.

“I'm happy to report that the Republican brand remains rock-solid in Kansas,” said Kelly Arnold, Republican state party chair. “The Kansas Democrats and their candidates, on the other hand, are burdened with the intense public dislike of national Democrats such as Barrack Obama, Harry Reid. and Nancy Pelosi and their big government policies.”

(The Associated Press contributed to this story).

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